Özgür Gençer is on his 3rd day of hunger strike for the "Chain Hunger Strike for Gaza" campaign.
One of the most reliable sources, brave and honest, through which I try to follow the atrocities carried out by Israel in Gaza, is the television channel Al-Jazeera in English. I follow the live website. Also on their site I found an interesting interview with Musa Abu Marzouq, the deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, living in Damascus. While at this time the number of Palestinian victims in Gaza is close to inevitable 1000 deads, while some Iranian ships are entering the Gaza Strip to deliver aid as the ship "Dignity" of the "Free Gaza Movement", this interview shows the murderous folly of Israel, but especially the stupidity of its strategies. Having strengthened Hezbollah in 2006, now they are preparing to permanently strengthen Hamas (why: someone has any doubt?). Now more than one analyst repeats that the worst enemy of Israel is Israel itself, the paranoia is a deadly weapon for hitting themselves. Not to mention that by now to defend Israel in the world are only Hillary Clinton and Franco Frattini, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs. Oh, and the websites of far-right Jewish Americans ...
<<Al Jazeera: Under what conditions will Hamas agree a ceasefire with Israel?
Abu Marzouq: We have three conditions for any peace initiative coming from any state. First, the aggression of the Israelis should stop. All of the gates should be opened, including the gate of Rafah between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Finally, Israel has to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. We are not saying we will stop firing rockets from the Gaza Strip to Israel - we are only talking about stopping the aggression from the Israelis against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. When others talk about a ceasefire, they are saying all military operations should stop. But we are sending a message [by firing rockets]: "We will not surrender. We have to fight the Israelis and we will win this battle." We know we are going to lose a lot of people from our side, but we are going to win, inshallah.
Al Jazeera: Members of Hamas have said that Israel is using collective punishment by targeting civilians who support Hamas. But is Hamas' targeting of Israeli civilians also not a type of collective punishment?
(...)
Abu Marzouq: We don't have weapons sophisticated enough to launch at exact targets. We are sending a message: "You can't provide security to your side until you bring security to the Palestinian side." (...) They need to understand that we are working for an independent state. How do you think Israel's war on Gaza will affect Hamas' position? The Israeli push against Hamas has increased our popularity sharply among the Palestinian people and throughout the Muslim world. After the Israelis killed Hamas leaders like Ahmed Yassin and Ismail Abu Shanab, Hamas won the elections with 76 seats out of a 132-seat parliament. Using these means doesn't decrease the popularity of Hamas, it increases it.
Al Jazeera: What exactly would you consider to be "victory" for Hamas?
Abu Marzouq: A victory for Hamas would mean the Israelis did not accomplish their objectives. If they can't stop rockets from coming into Israel, that means they failed. But the real reason for Israel's aggression is to change the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip - they have been thinking about this since Hamas won the elections - it is not because of the rockets. They failed to lead the people in an uprising against Hamas in the Gaza Strip with their economic embargo. They tried to push Fatah to stand and fight Hamas, but we defeated them in the Gaza Strip, so the Israelis have taken action themselves.
Al Jazeera: Why, at the beginning of this conflict, did Hamas decide not to renew the six-month ceasefire?
Abu Marzouq: We agreed to this ceasefire under Egyptian mediation with certain conditions. All military operations were to be stopped by June 19. All of the six gates between Israel and Gaza were to remain open. In the first 10 days of the truce, 30 per cent of the goods coming from Israel to the Gaza Strip were to be allowed in and, after that 10-day period, all supplies were to be allowed to enter. Also, there was to be a meeting between the Europeans, Egyptians, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas to discuss how to open the Rafah gate. Finally, the ceasefire was supposed to be extended to the West Bank. During those six months, the Israelis kept the border crossings closed most of the time. Only 15 per cent of goods were allowed to enter the Gaza Strip from Israel. They killed more than 40 people in the last month of the ceasefire, eight of which were in the last week. On many occasions, the Egyptians told us that the Israelis were not respecting the agreement. Their refusal to allow supplies to enter was a type of slow killing of the Palestinians. The Palestinians eventually asked: "What is the use of this ceasefire for us?". For that reason, we didn't renew that agreement.
(...)
Al Jazeera: How are relations between Hamas and Fatah now?
Abu Marzouq: Now the priority for Hamas, Fatah or any Palestinian organisation is to stand against the Israeli aggression. After we finish with this battle, I guess we can talk about reconciliation or reuniting with Fatah. We openly welcome any kind of negotiation or dialogue between Fatah and Hamas to end the separation of the Palestinians>>.
Go to the page where the interview is published: CLICK HERE.
<<Al Jazeera: Under what conditions will Hamas agree a ceasefire with Israel?
Abu Marzouq: We have three conditions for any peace initiative coming from any state. First, the aggression of the Israelis should stop. All of the gates should be opened, including the gate of Rafah between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Finally, Israel has to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. We are not saying we will stop firing rockets from the Gaza Strip to Israel - we are only talking about stopping the aggression from the Israelis against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. When others talk about a ceasefire, they are saying all military operations should stop. But we are sending a message [by firing rockets]: "We will not surrender. We have to fight the Israelis and we will win this battle." We know we are going to lose a lot of people from our side, but we are going to win, inshallah.
Al Jazeera: Members of Hamas have said that Israel is using collective punishment by targeting civilians who support Hamas. But is Hamas' targeting of Israeli civilians also not a type of collective punishment?
(...)
Abu Marzouq: We don't have weapons sophisticated enough to launch at exact targets. We are sending a message: "You can't provide security to your side until you bring security to the Palestinian side." (...) They need to understand that we are working for an independent state. How do you think Israel's war on Gaza will affect Hamas' position? The Israeli push against Hamas has increased our popularity sharply among the Palestinian people and throughout the Muslim world. After the Israelis killed Hamas leaders like Ahmed Yassin and Ismail Abu Shanab, Hamas won the elections with 76 seats out of a 132-seat parliament. Using these means doesn't decrease the popularity of Hamas, it increases it.
Al Jazeera: What exactly would you consider to be "victory" for Hamas?
Abu Marzouq: A victory for Hamas would mean the Israelis did not accomplish their objectives. If they can't stop rockets from coming into Israel, that means they failed. But the real reason for Israel's aggression is to change the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip - they have been thinking about this since Hamas won the elections - it is not because of the rockets. They failed to lead the people in an uprising against Hamas in the Gaza Strip with their economic embargo. They tried to push Fatah to stand and fight Hamas, but we defeated them in the Gaza Strip, so the Israelis have taken action themselves.
Al Jazeera: Why, at the beginning of this conflict, did Hamas decide not to renew the six-month ceasefire?
Abu Marzouq: We agreed to this ceasefire under Egyptian mediation with certain conditions. All military operations were to be stopped by June 19. All of the six gates between Israel and Gaza were to remain open. In the first 10 days of the truce, 30 per cent of the goods coming from Israel to the Gaza Strip were to be allowed in and, after that 10-day period, all supplies were to be allowed to enter. Also, there was to be a meeting between the Europeans, Egyptians, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas to discuss how to open the Rafah gate. Finally, the ceasefire was supposed to be extended to the West Bank. During those six months, the Israelis kept the border crossings closed most of the time. Only 15 per cent of goods were allowed to enter the Gaza Strip from Israel. They killed more than 40 people in the last month of the ceasefire, eight of which were in the last week. On many occasions, the Egyptians told us that the Israelis were not respecting the agreement. Their refusal to allow supplies to enter was a type of slow killing of the Palestinians. The Palestinians eventually asked: "What is the use of this ceasefire for us?". For that reason, we didn't renew that agreement.
(...)
Al Jazeera: How are relations between Hamas and Fatah now?
Abu Marzouq: Now the priority for Hamas, Fatah or any Palestinian organisation is to stand against the Israeli aggression. After we finish with this battle, I guess we can talk about reconciliation or reuniting with Fatah. We openly welcome any kind of negotiation or dialogue between Fatah and Hamas to end the separation of the Palestinians>>.
Go to the page where the interview is published: CLICK HERE.
